International Commission of Jurists
Lawyer’s arrest based on planted evidence

Lawyer’s arrest based on planted evidence

Nov 11, 2003 | News

The ICJ demands the Russian authorities to immediately release a lawyer arrested on 24 October after police planted a firearm in his car.

Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin’s arrest and detention prevent him from representing relatives of one of the victims in the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings case.

“Planting evidence and arresting a person on that basis makes a mockery of the rule of law”, said Linda Besharaty-Movaed, ICJ Legal Advisor. “Trepashkin’s unlawful detention demonstrates that Russian lawyers can be arrested for discharging their professional duties”.

Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin was arrested on charges of “possession and transportation of an unlicensed firearm” after police officers openly threw a bag that contained a gun into his car.

In 2002, Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin worked as a consultant for a commission that investigated the 1999 bombings, which had been exclusively blamed on Chechen insurgents, and found that the Security Service had been complicit in the bombings.

Immediately after he presented his findings, the Military Prosecutor initiated proceedings against Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin for “disclosing classified information”. Even though he was indicted, his case laid dormant until September 2003, when a book reproduced some of his findings. Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin then won an indefinite postponement of the case from the Supreme Court.

Russia-lawyer arrest-press release-2003 (text, PDF)

 

Nepal: arrest and disappearance of lawyer

Nepal: arrest and disappearance of lawyer

Oct 30, 2003 | News

The ICJ calls for the immediate release of Nepalese lawyer Shyam Kumar Shrestha whose arrest and enforced disappearance violate his right to liberty and security.

The ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers today condemned the arrest and disappearance of Nepalese lawyer, Shyam Kumar Shrestha, and called for his immediate release.

Mr. Shrestha, a member of the Nepal Bar Association, was arrested by security forces at 9:00 pm on 23 October at his home in Bagbazar, Kathmandu. The security forces stated that they were taking Mr. Shrestha to Maharajgunji in Kathmandu for questioning. They then took him away in a taxi without giving any further reasons for his arrest. Calls from the Nepal Bar Association to the Home Ministry and the human rights investigation bodies within the army and the police have not been answered. To date, the reasons for Mr. Shrestha’s abduction remain unknown.

“The arrest and enforced disappearance of Mr. Shrestha constitutes a grave violation of his right to liberty and security”, said Linda Besharaty-Movaed, Legal Advisor of the ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. “He must be immediately released and if any charges are brought against him, they must be in strict conformity with Nepalese law and international human rights standards.”

The ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers conducted a fact-finding mission to Nepal in January 2003. It has denounced the army killings and the increase in the number of disappearances by the security forces and abductions by the Maoists since fighting between the two sides resumed in August.

Nepal-arrest and disappearance lawyer-press release-2003 (text, PDF)

 

Translate »